Westgate school expansion fight heads to court

Some Winnipeg residents are taking the city to court, claiming it broke its own rules by permitting the expansion of Westgate Mennonite Collegiate.

The Armstrong's Point Residents' Association wants to stop Westgate Mennonite Collegiate from adding 4,700-square-feet to its size.

The streets around the school are too narrow to handle the increased traffic the expanded school could bring, residents say.

They have also noted the school has expanded at least twice before and is stretching the boundaries of the city's zoning bylaw.

The residents' association unsuccessfully fought against the expansion as it moved through the city's various committees. In June, the group lost its final bid to the city's appeals committee.

So now they're headed to court.

"You can't have it two ways — you can't have a neighbourhood that wants to live peacefully and quietly and have a school that always wants to expand," said Christine Common, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years.

The residents' association says if their application to the court goes ahead, it could be heard before September.